The present invention compries a new and distinct cultivar of Pelargonium known by the varietal name Marilyn (Oglevee Ltd. No. 1313, Bodger No. 6GM 123-3). The new variety was discovered in a selective breeding program by Mr. Douglas Holden who set out to develop hybrid varieties for vegetative propagation. The new variety is a cross between the seed parent Salmon Floral Cascade and the pollen parent Red Elite.
Salmon Floral Cascade is a commercially available vegetatively propagated cutting variety from Australia and which includes strains of Pelargonium frutetorum and Pelargonium peltatum. Red Elite is a commercially available single flower zonal (Pelargonium.times.hortorum) F.sub.1 hybrid seed geranium.
The new cultivar was discovered in August of 1986 at Bodger Seeds, Ltd. in El Monte, Calif., was first asexually reproduced by cuttings at Bodger Seeds, Ltd. at El Monte, Calif. and has been repeatedly asexually reproduced by cuttings at Oglevee Ltd. in Connellsville, Pa. It has been found to retain its distinct propagation through successive propagations.
The hybrid has a different color (clear pink) and larger flowers than the nearest comparative variety, Salmon Floral Cascade.
The new cultivar, when grown in a glass greenhouse in Connellsville, Pa., using full light, 60.degree. F. night temperature, 68.degree. F. day temperature, 71.degree. F. vent temperature, and grown in a soilless media with constant fertilizer of 200-250 parts per million nitrogen and potassium, has a response time from a rooted cutting to a flowering plant in a four inch (10 cm) pot of six weeks.